Liberati Attempts To Boot Transgender Opponent Off Ballot

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/01/2026) A transgender candidate in the 2nd House District should be kicked off the ballot because her new name was never made official, according to a complaint filed this week by the candidate's opponent, former Rep. Frank Liberati.

Liberati dug through court records to find that opponent Joanna Whaley attempted to change her name from her birth name of Jonathan Michael Whaley, but the court denied the request because she didn't file her fingerprints by the deadline.

As a result, when Whaley filed her affidavit of identity with the Wayne County Clerk with the name Joanna Whaley, Liberati is arguing she did so illegally since that is not her legal name.

Liberati and Whaley filed to run for the Democratic nomination in the Downriver open district currently held by Rep. Tullio Liberati, Jr. (D-Allen Park), who didn't file for re-election. A third candidate, Allen Park City Councilmember Gary Schlack, is also in the race.

MIRS called Liberati for comment, but had not received a response as of 8 p.m. Friday.

In her response filed Friday through her attorney, Aaron Martinez, Whaley argued that since she has gone by the name Joanna Whaley since at least May 6, 2022, she qualifies for the common -law name change made available through a prior Secretary of State declaratory ruling. Also, while Wayne County Judge Yvonna Abraham denied Whaley's name change in 2023, the judge did approve it in 2025 after finding there was no “fraudulent intent” behind the change.

The record on this approval is confidential, Martinez wrote, which explains why Liberati couldn't find it.

Martinez noted that just as the Secretary of State allowed Wayne State University Governor candidate Sonny Reddy run as “Sonny” since that's his common-law name, so too should she allow Whaley to run as “Joanna.”

“This is a huge distraction," Whaley said on Friday. "I'm trying to stay focused on what the people in the district want us to be focused on – getting utility bills down, expanding access to health care and fixing the roads.

“Talking about my gender and my name is not consistent with the values of our party.”

The whole episode got the attention of Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) and the Michigan Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus, which denounced Liberati's attempt as “stoking the flames of transphobia for personal political gain.” The caucus called on Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett to “promptly reject this baseless challenge to Whaley's candidacy.”

“Weaponizing transphobia as an electoral tactic has no place whatsoever in Michigan politics, and certainly not in a Democratic Party primary,” the caucus wrote.

Whaley is one of two transgender candidates running for the state legislature this year. At one point, four male-to-female transgender candidates had filed for office, but Aaron Bailey in the 92nd and Kali Scales in the 5th District withdrew by the filing deadline.